Our heart
by Darth Krande
Summary: Marcus Wright wakes up after the events of Terminator Salvation.


Inspired by rika08 and published under her permission. Thanks!

**Our heart**

He wondered why he was still alive. Still? Again? In 2003 many people believed he shouldn't have been born in the first place. Later, he had to learn that he was revived only to betray the last hope of humanity. Back then, his brother and two policemen died because of him. Now, finally, in an upside down world where people fight against a super-advanced demon that they created themselves, he was able to stand up for what he believed in. That was his second chance. By that time, he was mostly a machine. A Terminator. One of the deadliest machines of this mad, post-apocaliptical time. But at least, he had a heart. A good, strong heart, something that he could have been proud of.

His right hand rose, precision mechanical fingers' tips touched the quickly healing wound in his chest. The place where his heart used to be. He gave it to somebody who needed it more, who deserved it more than he did. Fifteen years after the kiss of death, he gave his last link to humanity.

He woke slowly, acknowledging the mere fact that he was still alive. He could hear the rotors, he could feel the wind. He slowly turned his head towards the Sun without opening his eyes. Once again, he prepared himself for a one-way journey into the light, only to be rejected and pushed back into the cruel, solid, battled world of those still alive. The light he was approaching had turned away. The graceful Sun he hadn't expected to see again had sleepily sunk beneath the horizon.

The helicopters landed in a rocky valley where they could hide from Skynet's million watching eyes. Night was approaching: the time when machines have the advantage of better visuals. He finally opened his eyes.

Kate was the first person he could see: a pregnant wife tending to her wounded husband. He would remember this scene for the rest of his life (if this stage of existance is life at all): this was humanity, this was life, this was everything the Resistance was fighting for.

Carefully, he sat up, trying to get a glimpse of the inside of his metallic chest. The surgical wound was almost covered by living tissue, the metal sceleton could hardly be seen anymore. Even to himself, he looked very much alive.

„Not again..."

The Connor couple turned to him, so did one of the pilots.

„How do you feel, Marcus?" Blair asked.

„I've been wondering whether I am alive now or not."

That was a good question that nobody dared answer. They knew what Marcus Wright used to be: a criminal whose body was used by Skynet to create the perfect infiltrator robot. They knew that Blair trusted him with passion. They knew where his heart was.

„You exist, and that's matters" John Connor finally said. Marcus didn't feel like arguing with him again.

Blair sat down on his bed, and grabbed his hand. „He's right. You are with us, and I don't care about anything else. You are with me."

A doctor checked on them, one of those who performed the heart transplanation. He ordered the healthy ones out, and reminded them that his patients both needed a rest. John and Marcus were left alone for the first time since Skynet's base went into the air.

„Thank you" one of them said.

„Thank you" replied the other one.

Silence, then. Long, peaceful silence: they have already told each other the most important. „Thank you."

John Connor recalled a childhood memory, the ultimate self-sacrifice. At that time, his mother thanked the Terminator before she lowered him into the molten steel.

„I'm sorry I haven't told you."

„What?" Marcus replied. Was there still something he should have been informed about?

„Our paths haven't only crossed when we first fought. You were also my protector once."

Twice, he added silently. But does that Terminator count? The one who would kill him in 2032? He would surely not count if the future was written.

No fate, but what we make.

Will he live that long? Wouldn't he die tomorrow, or the day after?

„And you have also protected Kate. Without you, we wouldn't have survived Judgement Day."

„Do you expect me to say 'You're welcome' ?"

They both laughed loud for a moment, then they had to quit because of the pain in their chest. They both giggled, though.

„You were brought back to life twice" John murmured. For him, this was the first.

„Three times, to be exact. You have also restarted my heart in the factory."

John touched the bandage on his chest weakly.

„Our heart."

Marcus nodded. John could see: it was a typical Terminator-nod of approval. He laid back, thinking about the past, the future, and future that already happened in a way. The snake bites its own tail. Terminators were sent to protect him at different stages of life, Terminators were sent to kill him. The first Terminator was sent so that his CPU would be reverse-engineered and lead Cyberdyne into the creation of Skynet. Kyle Reese was sent back in time to father him .

„I have a very important mission for you" John Connor finally said, turning towards the almost-man machine. „Protect Kyle Reese. Protect him at all costs."


End file.
